Machine supporting foot



y 1952 w. F. HELMOND MACHINE SUPPORTING FOOT Filed Dec. 24, 1946 IN HETOR. U7 0ND A TTORNEY Patented July 8, 1952 MACHINE SUPPORTING FOOT.-poration of Delaware Application DecemberZd, 1946, Serial No. 718,175

"This invention relates to resilient, sound deadening'footstructures for'typewriting and other machines. I "It-has been found that soundvibrations producedin machines such as typewriters. are considerablymuted and prevented from being transmitted' to the underlying support bytheprovision or -a resilient-"foot in whi'chthe weightfof the machine isfor the major part sustained upon a central regionof a suspended footweb that has a downwardly extending marginal foot flange, the web-beingadapted to sag under the weight of the machine. However; such feet haveinsuflicient' horizontal stability inasmuch as the resiliency of such"foot, and especially the flange results in yield" and shim-my thereofas parts ofthe machine arebeingoperated. I v

'Itis an "object" or the invention to'provide a foot structure which hasa high sound deadening characteristic; is economical to'manufacture, andyet'supports the machine with a great stability.

--A "more specific object of the invention is to produce an. improvedfoot structure in which the machine load is carried upon a centralregion of a. marginally sustained web, such web resiliently supportingthe machine at least in part by a sagging action,'and' constituting anupper part of an inherentlyresilient and horizontally unstable body;horizontal stability being lent to thesaid resilient body bya'substantially rigid constraining element on the machine, havinghorizontal constricting contact with the resilient body under theloadexertedby the machine. 7

"With these-and other objects in view, the invenfion includes certainnovel features of construction andcombination of elements, the elements;of'which are set'forth in appended claims, and' ja preferredform'orembodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to thedrawingswhich accompany and form a part of this specification. s

Referring now to the drawings, a

Figure 1 is a sectional ront elevation of the novel footstructure,showing the same attached to the bottom of a side wall of a typewritingmachine. The-foot structure is shown without any load-being imposedthereon.

=Fisure2. is a sectional bottom viewline-2--.2 of Figure 1. a

Figure 3"is'a 'frontsectional view similar to Fig-ore" 1-, but the footstructure is shown under load condition.

"Figure i 'showsa side elevation of the foot structure under load as inFigure 3.

5 isairontsectional iew imilar'to taken along -9 Claimsr (Cl.,24824i)Figure 1, the foot being under no-load-condition as the foot in Figurel, but outfitted with a spacer element modifying the foot to carry agreatermachine load with proper sound deadening and Inachine stabilizingaction,

Figure 6 embodies the spacer element-oi Figure 5 but the foot structureis under load. J 5 The drawings show a'side 'wall l9 of'a type writingmachine having fixed to the underside a boss I l,'the latter having athreaded 'hole l2 for afilxin'g the novel foot structure thereto.

The foot structure comprises a body Id of resilient material; such asrubber,'having'-a horizontal top-web i5 merging into adownwardlyreachingperipheral or bordering flange it, the flange H5 forming abottom cavity Il The said flange may be of rectangular outline asseen inFigure 2, or any other desired form; Thei foot structure is held to theunder side of the boss .I I by means of aiscrew l 8 threadedlyassociatedwith thehole' E2 of theboss-l I.. Thescrew. extends upwardlythrough ahole in the Web l 51 and through a perforation in a strongsheet-metal'capili, a washer 24 being interposed between the boss H and"the cap, and .the cap' andwasher being Web l5, and its underside isrounded? asshown. A head 21 at the lower end of the screw'ret'ains theresilient foot body it. The aforesaid washer 24' is inserted between theboss 24 and the. cap

on such of the feet as require 1evelingwith.re'-

spect: to other feet, and, the washers, or course, may be of selectthicknesses for the. purpose.

The cap 23 has a downwardly reachingrim 28 of considerable height,skirtingdown on the outide of the'downreaching flange 16 of theresilient body it. When the foot isnot. supporting a machine, asdepicted in Figure 1, there isa considerable space vertically betweenthe cap 23, and

1 the topside of the web. l5. .lZ-Iowever, underthe.

load exertedby the. machine, as is illustrated Figures 3 and 4, the webIrisags-idown.centrallyofthe bordering flange l6 and. the cap. descendswithrespect to the flange [6. From-Figures3 and T 4 it will be seen thatthe rim 28 of the cap has a will have the desired horizontal stability,"while. at: the Same time the loadof the maohine is efficient Saidannular element covers a'relatively small central region ofthe- 1ysustained by the hammock-like provision of the web l which heads theflange l6.

Preferably in accordance with the embodiment of the invention shown, theexterior of the flange I6 is tapering upwardly and the interior of thecap rim 23 is correspondingly tapering, but slightly spaced from thetaper of the flange under no-load condition as seen in Figures 1 and 5.When the machine rests by its feet, the internal taper of the rimcontacts and preferably presses slightly upon the taper of the flange.The annular spacer is of such select thickness that the rim of the cap23 will contact the flange, preferably with light pressure, thereby notto destroy the resilient machine supporting action of the Web IS. Thebottom of the foot body I4 is soft enough to have good traction upon asupporting surface. For substantially maximum horizontal stability therim of the cap reaches nearly to the bottom of the flange [6 when thefoot is under load. See Figures 3 and 4.

In Figures 5 and 6 there is shown'a washer or spacer interposed betweenthe screw shoulder I9 and the cap 23, thereby to convert the foot shownin Figures 1 to 4 to sustain a greater machine load without the cap rim28 bearing too tightly upon the resilient foot body 14 and therebyrobbing the web (5 of its intended machine supporting function. InFigure 5 the foot structure is illustrated as not loaded by the weightof the machine, and it will be noted that the resilient foot body l4protrudes farther below the cap 23 than in Figure 1, and thatconsequently the space between the tapers of the rim 23 and the flangeI6 is greater. It follows therefore that the web I5 of the modified footstructure of Figures 5 and 6 can receive a greater sag before the taperof the cap rim 23 contacts the external taper of the flange [6. In otherwords the foot of Figures 5 and 6 is capable to support a greater weightwithout the taper of the rim bearing too firmly on the flang I6 andcancelling the intended function of the web l5.

It is to be understood that the thickness of the' washer 30 is selectedto give the foot structure the desired properties hereinabove noted.Further, it will be seen that introduction of the washer 30 between thecap 23 and the screw shoulder I9 permits the various remaining parts ofthe foot structure to be identical in size and proportionasthe-preceding parts illustrated.

in Figures 1 to 4.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described,it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible of modificationand change and comprehends other constructions and details withoutdepartingfrom the spirit of the invention.

What'is claimed is:

1. A foot structure for a machine, comprising, a foot body of resilientmaterial having a flexible horizontal top-web bordered by a heavysupporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface,said flange being so heavy in structure as to virtually retain itsnormal form under vertical load exerted by the machine, and said top-webbeing flexible enough to sagunder load applied at an inner region ofsaid web, means for associating a machine restingly on said inner regionof said flexible web and with capacity for some vertical movement freeof an outer web region that merges with said flange, said asso ciatingmeans providing for a free range of sagging action of said web, and wallmeans rigid on the machine and in horizontal-movement-conbody forhorizontal constricting action on the body when said web under the loadof the machine is ina sagged condition.

3. A foot structure for a machine, comprising, a foot body of resilientmaterial having a flexible horizontal top-web bordered by a heavysupporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface,said flange. being soheavy in structure as to retain virtually itsnormal form under vertical load exerted by the machine, and said top-webbeingflexibleenough to sag ,under load applied at'an inner regicnofsaidweb, means for associating a machine restingly on said inner regionof said flexible web andwith capacity :for some vertical movement'freeOf'anouter; web region that merges with said-flange, saidyassociatingmeans providing for afree range of-saggingaction' of said web, and,means'for rigid association with, the machine; and including wall meansfor horizontal-movement:llgn l lfict ing contact around the flange aboveits -ltwvermost portion when said web: sags at the-,irmer-region rest ona surface, said flange beingso-heavy in structure as to retain itsnormal form-under ver-. tical load exerted by the machine, and'said'topweb'being flexible v.enoughto sag under load applied; at an innerregion of said :web, means for associating a machine restingly onaninner-re gion of said flexible web and with capacityfor some verticalmovement free of an outer webregion merging with said flange, saidassociating means providing fora free range of sagging action of saidweb, and a rim rigidly associablewiththe. machine and in a relation tosaidv body to corn strict the latter by contacting'it horizontally,around an upper outside portion of. the flan'glin the sagged conditionof the web prevalentunden the load of the machine.

5. A foot structure :for a machine,

a foot body of resilient material having a flexible horizontal top-webbordered by a heavy supporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom;-for rest on a supporting surface, said flange, beingso.

heavy in structure as to retain virtuallyitsnor mal form under verticalload exei'ted by. the. machine and said top-web being flexible enough,to sag under load applied at an inner region of said web, a cap ofrelatively rigid material associable with the machine'and having adown-reaching rim for belting an appreciable upper portion-of saidflange, spacing means introduceable vertically between said cap and aninner regionof said web and leaving under no-load condition of the footstructure a clearanceioutside fot ;the&

spacing means vertically-between said capand an outer region of saidweb, for the cap toxicscend freely under the load of the machine,;Saidjrim dimensionally proportioned with respect to the outside of the flangeto-permit it tomove:

down under the load of the-machine, and-having in the sagged conditionof the web horizontal- V movement-constricting contact around the flangeand thus horizontal stabilizing action on the foot body and, therefore,on the machine.

6. A foot structure for a machine, comprising, a body of resilientmaterial having a horizontal top-web which has a central perforation,the said top-web being bordered by a supporting flange reachingdownwardly therefrom for rest on a surface, at least an upper portion ofthe exterior of said flange being tapering upwardly, a cap of relativelyrigid material for said body, having a central perforation and includinga downreaching rim bordering the tapered upper portion of said flangeand having an internal taper substantially corresponding to the flange,annular spacing means vertically between said cap and the central regionof said web, leaving a clearance vertically above the outer top portionof said body, for the cap to descend under load, a shouldered screw forreaching upwardly through said perforations and said annular member,said screw having a threaded end for association with the machine andhaving a shoulder for engagement against the underside of said cap toclamp said cap to the machine, the flange and the rim, where tapered,being slightly separated under no-load condition, but the rim beingsettling on said tapering portion of the flange under load, thereby torestrict and stabilize the resilient body horizontally.

l. A foot structure as set forth in claim 6, and washer meansintroduceable underneath the cap and above the screw shoulder toregulate the noload separation between the taper of the flange and therim so that for a given weight of a machine the taper of the rim settlesupon the taper of the flange only firmly enough to give the latter theproper horizontal stability.

8. A foot structure for a machine, comprising,

a resilient body having a horizontal top-web which has a centralperforation, the said topweb being bordered by a supporting flangereaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface,

a cap of relatively rigid material for said body, having a centralperforation and including a down-reaching rim surrounding an upperportion of saidflange, and annular spacing means vertically between saidcap and the central region of said web, leaving a clearance verticallyabove WILLIAM F. HELMOND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,830,058 Helmond Nov. 3, 19311,911,010 Brawley May 23, 1933 2,128,216 Armington Aug. 30, 1938.2,172,004 Anderson Sept. 5, 1939

